The use of computer systems and computer-related technologies continues to increase at a rapid pace. This increased use of computer systems has influenced the advances made to computer-related technologies. Indeed, computer systems have increasingly become an integral part of the business world and the activities of individual consumers. Computer systems may be used to carry out several business, industry, and academic endeavors. The wide-spread use of computers has been accelerated by the increased use of computer networks, including the Internet.
Many businesses use one or more computer networks to communicate and share data between the various computers connected to the networks. The productivity and efficiency of employees often requires human and computer interaction. Users of computer technologies continue to demand an increase in the efficiency of these technologies. Improving the efficiency of computer technologies is always desirable to anyone who uses and relies on computers.
A computer system may execute various types of applications or software programs. These applications may provide certain functions and interfaces to the user of the computer system. In some cases, one application may interface with another application on the computer system. The interface that allows different applications to communicate with each other is an application programming interface (API). For example, a first application may interface with an API and the API may in turn interface with a second application. The first application may request and receive information from the second application through the API. In this manner, developers of an application may also create an API for that application. This API may be provided to developers of additional applications. As a result, the developers of the additional applications may incorporate the specifications of the API into the additional applications so that these additional applications may interface with the original application. When a user requests information from a first application that is available through a second application, the first application may communicate with the second application to request and receive the data via the API that serves as the interface between the first and second applications.